1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a board game for a pair of opposing players who manipulate movable board pieces in a manner somewhat similar to opponents playing a conventional game of Chess. More specifically, the invention relates to a game played on a special board, larger than that of traditional International chess having vertical and horizontal grid lines as opposed to columns of alternating colored squares and seventeen pieces representing futuristic, space-age figures on each of two opposing sides.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional chess game is played on a chessboard, identical to a checkerboard, with thirty-two pieces, one set of sixteen-white, and one set of sixteen-black, for each of two opposing players. The conventional board includes sixty-four squares of two alternating colors, usually white and black or red and black. The playing pieces are ranked with each rank being allowed certain moving privileges in varying patterns along the squares of the playing board. One player each is situated across from the opposing player on each of two opposing sides of the chessboard. These two players, one for each side, face each other across the board, and each player has his own set of playing pieces that are initially arranged in a predetermined order on that player's side of the playing board. The object of the game is to maneuver one's men and pieces, according to prescribed rules, in such a way as to put the most highly-ranked piece, the opponent's king, in a condition of checkmate. Checkmate is a situation in which that king is threatened with capture and cannot move out of vulnerability in any direction.
The present invention relies to a large degree upon a direct correspondence to the pieces, moves and capture strategy of Chinese chess. However, the present invention is an improvement over the Chinese chess game and remains significantly different from the conventional International chess game. It is these areas of departure from Chinese chess and the differences between Black Hole Chess and International chess that characterize the present invention. Because the moves and playing strategy are so affected by the Black Hole, the present invention is an improvement over Chinese chess.
It is therefore, an object of the present invention to improve over Chinese chess and conventional international chess by adding the Black Hole and the special rules peculiar to the Black Hole which in turn affect the moves and the strategy of the present invention.